It is NDA Vs UPA agenda; young leader with conventional mind set verses experience leader with new thought process India needs stable and strong government
Setting a new agenda for Congress party ahead of the forthcoming Lok Sabha election, the young party general secretary Rahul Gandhi called for giving more representation to youth in electoral politics.
Pitching for the need of making “work” as the only criteria for selecting candidates for polls, the Amethi MP said, “Religion, caste, region or economic condition should be the criteria if we want genuine and promising youth leaders to join politics for serving the nation.”
Addressing the grass-roots level Congress workers at a national convention in the capital, Rahul also said that though country has influential percentage of young population, youth does not find its convenient to join politics.
“They have that intention and energy to work for the community and for nation. They feel none raises the voice of people even after getting elected. We need to demolish all walls to make it convenient and reward for youth to join politics,” the young leader said.
Taking up the case of block level and district level workers and their leaders, Rahul said that though they are responsible for party’s victories and they lead the protests march their case are overlooked when it comes to distribution of tickets. I am strongly in favor of these people get- ting due share. We should not import someone else and ignore their role,” the leader said.
The achievements of the UPA government were all the 52 schemes that were running in the country, but National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), Right To Information (RTI), Nuclear Agreement and debt waiver to the farmers would be the key issues, said Rahul Gandhi adding, ”implementation of acts like NREGA and RTI was a historical step for the country’s future.”
However, experienced Advani is promising to change the primary focus of the software industry from outsourcing for foreign economies to make it mainly Indiacentric, BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate L K Advani today said an NDA government “will create a new policy climate” to achieve this aim. “Whereas much of our software industry labors to make foreign economies more competitive, a BJP-led government will create a new policy climate where we use technology mainly for India’s – I would add, Bharat’s sustainable development,” Advani stated in the foreword to the party’s IT Vision document.
The comment comes at a time when the US and other western countries have said that they would check outsourcing to India to boost their sagging economies and growing unemployment. The saffron party leader said his government would bring about a radical shift of emphasis in favor of “agriculture, rural economy, infrastructure development, small and medium enterprises, informal sector of the economy, affordable health- care for all, meaningful education for all. And national security, both internal and external”. Promising to make “internet as ubiquitous as electricity”, Advani said an NDA government would create 20 IT related jobs in ever y village. This would mean 1.2 crore IT-enabled jobs in rural hinterland of the country, he said.
– OE News Bureau
History was made in Parliament on Saturday when the two Houses bowed to Anna Hazare’s campaign, powered by a groundswell of popular support, for a strong and independent Lokpal. The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha unanimously resolved that the Standing Committee would consider Anna’s three demands – including the lower bureaucracy in the Lokpal’s purview, a central law for creating Lok Ayuktas in states and a citizen’s charter for government departments providing public service. This finally paved the way for Anna’s 12-day fast to end.
This is the first instance of Parliament explicitly agreeing to accommodate demands raised by an ‘outsider’, that too when the official bill had already been moved. A jubilant Anna Hazare responded to Parliament’s endorsement of his demands by announcing that he would call off his fast at 10 am on Sunday. His aides promptly called upon the people to flock to Ramlila Maidan to participate in this victory of popular will. Later, the PM publicly threw his weight behind the reconciliation. “Parliament has spoken. Parliament’s will is the will of the people,” he said, bringing a closure to the standoff.
Parliament’s extraordinary gesture on Saturday brought out its capacity to adapt and innovate in response to an extraordinary expression of popular aspirations, reflected in the countrywide outpouring of support for Anna’s anti-corruption charter. A huge throng camped at Ramlila Maidan as Parliament debated Anna’s demands. The day also saw the much- maligned political class rise to the challenge. Speeches in both Houses were non-partisan, and effectively rebuffed anxieties about Parliament’s relevance or its preparedness to deal with graft.
The resolution adopted by the two Houses strikes a balance between the competing considerations of heeding the clamour for strong anti-corruption measures in the wake of a series of scams and the political class’s determination to not allow Parliament’s authority on law-making to be under- mined. Even as it conceded the Anna group’s demands, the resolution also made it plain that the procedure of the scrutiny of the law by the Standing Committee would not be scuppered. The resolution was the result of a remarkable display of give-and-take by all the protagonists. The government, which had staunchly resisted the civil society group’s efforts to dictate the shape of the Lokpal law, did not allow ego to come in the way as it changed tack. The PM, who said he was ready to walk the extra mile, did so at a crucial time when he overruled the naysayers to give his nod to a conciliatory resolution.
This was the second time in the week that the PM had taken charge of the government’s efforts, even if belated, to defuse the confrontation. On Wednesday, he had turned down the effort of his colleagues to re-open a resolution that he had worked out with the Opposition after an all-party meeting. The Opposition also matched the government’s conciliator y attitude. The speech of Arun Jaitley, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, was bereft of partisan considerations, and set the stage for non-acrimonious debate. In fact, at one point in Jaitley’s speech, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee asked the BJP leader to explain a finer legal point. Later, Jaitley along with L K Advani and Sushma Swaraj helped craft the resolution that passed muster with the civil society activists.
Team Anna, too, did not lag behind. The players who had been frequently accused of taking maximalist positions, chose to settle for a solution that did not quite meet their expectations. Prashant Bhushan, a dogged warrior in the court and outside, acknowledged that they would have preferred an iron-clad commitment. However, he expressed the hope that Parliament, having recognized the depth of anti-corruption feelings, would not resile on its commitment.
There are a thousand things wrong with our country. But every once in a while, something or someone comes along and restores, in some measure, our faith in the future. Even those who have had reservations about Anna Hazare’s form of protest — and there are many honest, intelligent and committed people among them – cannot discount the incredible impact he has had on Indian polity and society. He has tapped into a nation’s rising frustration and anger against corruption of the most scandalous proportions, and channeled it into a mass movement that has shaken the government to its foundation, and placed the entire political class on notice. Will the Lokpal bill be a panacea for all of India’s problems? As the Prime Minister has said on more than one occasion, there is no magic wand. But that cannot be a reason for us to do nothing. Anna Hazare has lit a fire. It’s for every one of us to keep the flame of hope alive.
Opinion from Indian Press….
After an epic fast of 288 hours, Anna Hazare finally ended it on August 28 before thousands of cheering supporters at Ramlila Maidan. The 74-year-old Gandhian accepted a glass of tender coconut water mixed with honey from a Dalit and a Muslim girl -Simran and Ikrah — at 10:20 am on the dais at the Ramlila Ground ending over 288 hours of fast that began on August 16.
After a brief address, Hazare was driven straight to Medanta Medicity run by eminent cardiologist Dr Naresh Trehan who was attending to him along with his team during his entire period of fast. Hazare will stay in the hospital for two- three days. “I have only suspended my agitation. I will not rest until all the changes that I look to are achieved,” he said to a thunderous applause from thou- sands of his supporters waving tri colour and shouting slogans like ‘Anna Hazare Zindabad’.
Flanked by his team members, including Shanti Bhushan, Prashant Bhushan, Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi and Manish Sisodia, Hazare said what has been achieved in Parliament yesterday is a victor y of the people of India, democracy and those assembled in Ramlila Ground.
Maintaining that People’s Parliament is bigger than “Parliament in Delhi”, Hazare said that is why the Parliament had to listen to people’s Parliament.
“This movement has created a faith that the country can be rid of corruption and we can go ahead with implementing laws and the Constitution made by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar,” he said. Referring to Parliament’s decision to refer three of his demands – Citizen’s charter, inclusion of lower bureaucracy and creation of Lokayuktas through Lokpal bill – for Standing Committee’s consideration, he said, the country can be proud of this moment. Thirteen days of agitation has yielded fruits, he said.
Outlining his future agenda, Hazare chose reforms in election and education systems and working for the betterment of farmers and labourers. He said his fight would now be for Right to Recall and Right to Reject. While Right to Recall would be for those elected, the Right to Reject will be a column in the ballot paper which would ensure the voter has a right to say that he does not like the listed candidates. “We have to reform electoral system. (we need) Right to Reject. You should be able to reject your candidate in the ballot paper. We have to do that.
– OE News Bureau
WASHINGTON: A group of Indian- Americans has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to meet the demands of social activist Anna Hazare by himself tabling the Jan Lokpal Bill in the Parliament. “We hope you will take the call and retain the faith in parliament by your- self going ahead with tabling the Janlokpal bill to end the deadlock. Whatever decisions you make today will be remembered in our history for generations to come,” said a petition submitted to him at the Indian embassy here.
Holding their protest in support of Hazare for the sixth consecutive day, the group, including students from universities in and around Washington said corruption is the greatest hurdle in the progress of India. “Since decades we have seen scandals after scandals, but no politician was ever punished or held account- able,” they said, “Anti-corruption activist Shri Anna Hazare has entered sixth day of his ‘anshan’ and there is still a deadlock between the government and the civil society members. There have been no positive developments in the past few days.”
“We along with Anna are quite clear what we want, but the government is still confused. Strong ‘political will’ to fight corruption is the need of the hour. Government must come clean on it’s intentions and at least table the Jan Lokpal bill in the parliament. We do have faith in our parliamentary system and are proud of our vibrant democracy, so what’s the harm in at least tabling the bill? What’s there in it for the government to lose?” the petition said.
“This movement has moved beyond Anna and Jan Lokpal Bill. Middle class is rallying there for a cause which has been bothering them for decades. By placing a toothless bill, government ‘intent’ is exposed. For days to come, we have to keep our finger crossed as a new history is in making!” said Vibhash Jha, a PhD student at the University of Maryland.
– OE News Bureau
For the past few days and in a desperate attempt to counter the middle-class euphoria over Anna Hazare, a beleaguered Congress has been cashing many of the IOUs it has accumulated over the past seven years. NAC member Harsh Mander, the unchallenged King of sanctimoniousness and the great proponent of communal budgeting of state resources, has denounced Anna’s crusade as “a Right-leaning, fascist campaign to push for an extremely regressive legislation”. Aruna Roy, another NAC member and the Queen Bee of the NGO movement, has proffered her own version of outsourced legislation – one that apparently travels the middle path between the official Lokpal Bill and Anna’s Jan Lokpal Bill. To cap it all, former Infosys chief and the present head of the UID scheme (with the status of a Cabinet Minister) has made TV appearances expressing his unhappiness with the “uni-dimensional” approach of Team Anna and the need for a “much more strategic, holistic” approach.
Nilekani’s critique of the Anna movement can’t be dismissed lightly. He issued a testimonial to Indian parliamentary democracy and particularly the functioning of parliamentary committees. At the same time, he mocked the simplistic bantering that has characterised Team Anna: “Which Kool-Aid are they drinking?” Kool-Aid, I was informed by Wikipedia, is a “brand of flavoured drinks owned by Kraft Foods.” Nilekani could, perhaps, have been less global with his choice of metaphors to state his astonishment with Team Anna’s certitudes. Yet, if Twitter is any indication, he was berated for allowing himself to become a “mouthpiece” for the Government. A few months ago, India’s middle-class twitterati would have treated every word and sentence he uttered as Gospel truth. Today, he is being viewed as part of the rotten elite that is In the coming days, and irrespective of whether the Anna campaign turns more strident or begins wilting, the Government bid to create a less excitable public mood will intensify. From August 16 to the installation of Anna in Ram Lila Maidan three days later, the entire focus was on the Government’s ill-conceived preventive detention, the assault on the Government in Parliament and its unconditional surrender to Team Anna. The Government stood discredited, with a large omelette on its face and its authority in shreds. Most important, for three days the Government successfully turned a populist, anti-corruption movement into an anti-Congress movement. In just three days, the Congress frittered away the goodwill of Middle India.
Yet, no Government capitulates so easily. Manish Tewari’s assault on the integrity of Anna Hazare didn’t click and neither did Rashid Alvi’s comic attempt to locate an American hand behind the movement. At the same time, the abrupt elevation of Anna into a “hero” and “hero of heroes” by Sanjay Nirupam and Harish Rawat has looked patently disingenuous, coming as it did with the news that the Government actually wanted to ‘deport’ Anna back to his village in Maharashtra on August 16. The Congress (and, in fact, most political parties) often forget that people aren’t fools and will believe whatever drivel is served to them. It is easier to persuade courtiers to forgive past sins and come to the aid of the party than to regain lost public goodwill instantly.
I can say with near certainty that the next few weeks will see reports of weariness with street protests, exasperation with unreasonable politics, the unresponsiveness of minorities and Dalits to middle-class protests and, finally, the silent majority’s wish that the Government gets on with the job of governing. Apart from the difficulties of maintaining sustained inter- est in one story, the media too is susceptible to official cajoling and arm- twisting. This matters in times of economic difficulties.
On August 20, for example, Government departments issued 69 advertisements spread over 41 pages in 12 daily English newspapers to commemorate Rajiv Gandhi’s birth anniversary. It is said that the total expenditure for this occasion last year was between Rs 60 crore and 70 crore. And this was a commemoration that excluded the electronic media. When that is brought into the purview of campaigns like Bharat Nirman and advertisements made by agencies with close ties to daughters-in-law and nephews of Ministers, the sums involved can be mind boggling. In short, it doesn’t make business sense for the media to persist with the shrill anti-Government campaign of the past week. This isn’t a matter of politics; it’s prudent business.
In the coming days, the stage will be set for Team Anna to undertake suicide missions and become increasingly reckless. Actually, that is not asking for too much. The sight of doting crowds spontaneously assembled, 24×7 news coverage and a belief in their own manifest destiny can turn many heads. Kiran Bedi’s “India is Anna” remark, Prashant Bhushan’s sneering espousal of plebiscitary democracy that is calculated to generate anarchy, Swami Agnivesh’s slipperiness and Anna’s own innocent understanding of public life will come under sustained gaze. The hyenas are waiting for them to slip up, and slip up they will. The Anna movement may well falter, but will it restore the Government’s credibility? That, unfortunately, is history. Unless a political miracle takes place, India seems set for a long innings of lame-duck governance. Anna may not get to taste success, but he has begun the halal killing of this Government.
– Swapan Dasgupta: Courtesy The Pioneer
UPA's trouble-shooter faces no challenge
PA Sangma no match to Pranab's popularity across the spectrum
United Progressive Alliance (UPA) candidate Pranab Mukherjee wins the presidential race by beating NDA-backed PA Sangma by a huge margin as he scored more than 558,000 votes crossing the required half-way mark of 5,25,140 votes.His rival, former Lok Sabha speaker P.A. Sangma, was way behind with 239,966 votes as counting continued, Mukherjee's polling agent Pravin H. Parikh said. "He has crossed the halfway mark. He is the president-elect," Parikh said.
The win was anticipated as Mukherjee had the backing of the Trinamool Congress, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the DMK, the Forward Bloc and Samajwadi Party but also National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ally Janata Dal-United and Shiv Sena. "I am very happy. I thank everybody for their love and support. I thank all the people of my country," Mukherjee told a Bengali news channel.
"In the last one month I have covered the entire country. And with the emotions and feelings that I have sensed in the common people revolving round this presidential election, it felt like it was not a presidential election but a general election. "I am very happy, and I will strive to live up to the expectations and faith that people have bestowed on me," Mukherjee said in his first comments.
Officials opened the ballot boxes in Room 63 of Parliament House with representatives from both candidates present.The first wooden box that was opened contained the votes of MPs cast in Delhi Thursday when the election took place. Congress leaders including Home Minister P. Chidambaram, Minister of State in Prime Minister's Office V. Narayanasamy and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Shukla were in the room.
Mukherjee will be administered the oath of office by the Chief Justice of India on July 25 at the Central Hall of Parliament.
The contest was between UPA candidate Pranab Mukherjee and opposition-supported Purno Sangma, a former Lok Sabha speaker. The odds were heavily stacked against Sangma the man who has never lost any election from 1977 till 2008. And Sanga's defeat to Mukherjee, would mean that for the first time in 35 years that he would be left without any 'current' designation. Ever since he threw his hat into the presidential ring, Sangma has been clinging on to the 'conscience vote', 'miracle' and 'hope' rhetoric. Sangma had indubitably brought in an element of excitement into the 2012 presidential poll which even made former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav fumble during Thursday's poll, rendering his vote invalid'.
Earlier in the day his daughter Sharmistha Mukherjee said the family will celebrate only after he was sworn in. However, celebrations began at Mukherjee's native village Birbhum in West Bengal much before the results were announced. Party leaders have also been visiting his residence with boxes of sweets to be distributed when the results are announced. The counting of ballots were conducted amidst tight security in Parliament House in the presence of authorised representatives of both Mukherjee and Sangma. The ballot boxes of votes cast in Parliament House were taken up first for counting after which those from the states were opened.
Pranab Mukherjee's win will bring an end the lament of Bengalis of not seeing a local boy occupying the highest constitutional post of the country. Mukherjee, often referred to as the best Prime Minister India never had, began his political career in 1969 and has served in every Congress cabinet since Indira Gandhi was Prime Minister.Trinamool Congress (TMC), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), JD (S), CPI-M, YSR Congress and Forward Bloc have also extended their support to Mukherjee along with NDA partners Janata Dal-United and Shiv Sena. About 95 percent of the 4,896 electorate exercised their franchise to elect India's 13th president at polling centres set up at Parliament House and 30 state and union territories.
The president is elected by an electoral college of MPs and members of state assemblies. All MPs except those nominated to parliament are eligible to vote. There are 776 MPs; each MP's vote equals 708 votes.There were 4,120 assembly members eligible to vote. The value of a legislator's vote is variable depending on the population of the state the member represents.
Besides the support of the UPA led by the Congress, Mukherjee enjoyed the backing of the Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Janata Dal-Secular. Constituents of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance, Janata Dal-United and Shiv Sena, also extended their support to the former finance minister besides the CPI-M and Forward Bloc. Sangma, a member of the Meghalaya assembly, is supported by the BJP, Akali Dal, Asom Gana Parishad, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, AIADMK and Biju Janata Dal.
P.A. Sangma, a former Lok Sabha Speaker, jumped into the fray playing the tribal card with the initial support of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). The BJP and Akali Dal decided to back Sangma, who quit the NCP, the party he founded with Sharad Pawar, to contest the election.
Profile
Son of Kamada Kinkar Mukherjee and Rajlakshmi Mukherjee, Shri Pranab Mukherjee, born on 11th December, 1935 in a small village, Mirati of Birbhum District in West Bengal. Kamada K Mukherjee was a respected freedom fighter spent more than 10 years in British jails. Pranab's father was an active member of Indian National Congress and was also a member of West Bengal Legislative Council from 1952 to 1964. So, it was quite obvious that K K Mukherjee's son Shri Pranab Mukherjee would join active politics following his father's footsteps, after brief career in academic world (after obtaining masters degree in Political Science and History and degree of Law from Calcutta University, he joined as a professor in a college of Birbhum District of West Bengal).
Shri Pranab Mukherjee's parliamentary career begun as a Rajya Sabha member from Congress Party in 1969. Thereafter, he re-elected in 1975, 1981, 1993, and 1999. His ministerial career begun in 1973 as the Deputy Minister, Industrial Development. After that he hardly looked back. When he was the Finance Minister of India during 1982 to 1984, Euromoney Magazine rated him as the best Finance Minister of the world. Thereafter, barring a brief period, Shri Mukherjee, served the country as a cabinet Minister, more or less in every National Congress Ministry, At present, he is the External Affairs Mnister of Dr.Manmohan Singh's cabinet and as a senior member of the Ministry, he is consulted by the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh before taking any major decision regarding welfare of the country and his valuable comments and suggestions made him practically indispensable.
History repeated itself on Tuesday after five decades when United Progressive Alliance nominee Hamid Ansari was re-elected Vice- President. He became the second Vice- President to get a second consecutive term after S. Radhakrishnan, who enjoyed two terms from 1952 to 1962. Mr. Ansari won with a thumping majority against the National Democratic Alliance candidate Jaswant Singh. He polled 490 votes against Mr. Singh’s 238. There was never any doubt about the victory of Mr. Ansari, given the numerical strength of the UPA and other parties supporting him.
The NDA zeroed in on senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Mr. Singh essentially for political reasons. Having faced dissensions within its ranks in the presidential election, the alliance wanted to demonstrate that that was a one-off incident and no meaning should be read into it. Its purpose was served as it managed to line up all the constituents behind Mr. Singh. The JD(U) and the Shiv Sena broke ranks with the BJP and voted in favour of Pranab Mukherjee in the presidential election.
Out of the 790 members of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha who form the electoral college for the vice-presidential election, three are vacant — Mr. Mukherjee was elected President, Vijay Bahuguna became Chief Minister of Uttarakhand and the election of BJP MP J. Shanta was set aside by High Court. Of the remaining 787 members, 47 MPs did not cast their votes. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said 21 members from the Biju Janata Dal, 11 from the Telugu Desam Party, 6 from the Congress and supporting parties, including ailing Union Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, and two nominated members did not cast their votes. T.K. Vishwanathan, Lok Sabha Secretary General and Returning Officer, said eight votes were declared invalid.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi had named Mr. Ansari as the second choice of her party for the Presidential election after Pranab Mukherjee. As Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Mr. Ansari faced criticism when the Opposition parties expressed unhappiness at the manner in which he “abruptly” adjourned the House on the night of December 29, 2011 during the debate on the Lokpal Bill. Barring that one occasion, the first stint of the 75- year-old former IFS officer and Vice- Chancellor of Aligarh University was devoid of controversy.
– OE News Bureau
Proponents of strong Hindu nationalism view GujaratChief Minister Mr. Narendra Modi as their icon and India’s future hope. Progressive and secular forces view him as a dangerous threat to the nation’s unity. Both views seem to be misconceived. There seems to be a great difference between Mr. Modi’s image and his reality. Either wittingly or otherwise his actions are harming the prospects of so-called Hindu nationalists and helping those of so-called progressive and secular forces.
Mr. Modi swung into an overdrive in the last week of May this year. The pact he sealed with BJP President Mr. Nitin Gadkari to enable the latter get a second term was on the precondition that the party administer humiliating treatment to BJP leader Mr. Sanjay Joshi. The party’s surrender provoked three quick responses in these columns that predicted what eventually occurred. Dissidence in the Gujarat BJP grew. Mr. Joshi started an anti-Modi poster campaign from which he dissociated him- self only after the damage was done in order to avoid disciplinary action by the party. And Mr. Modi’s growing stature as the future prime ministerial candidate created serious misgivings both in the central parliamentary leadership of the BJP as well as among the NDA allies.
Mr. Modi bulldozing his party up to this point may be attributed to nothing more than vaulting ambition. Corporate India that owns media solidly backs him. Mainstream media commissions opinion polls that hail him as India’s greatest living vote getter. It must be pointed out though that his vote-getting prowess has never yet been demonstrated outside Gujarat. Mr. Modi’s impatience to get ahead was understandable. What is less understandable is his unprovoked attack on Bihar politicians as recently as June 11th.
Mr. Modi criticized Bihar’s politics for being caste based and therefore the reason of the state’s backwardness. Surely Mr. Modi knew that the nation was in the thick of a Presidential election for which reason unity within the NDA was absolutely essential? Even allowing for his unconcealed ambition to be the prime ministerial candidate in the next general election what need was there for Mr. Modi’s tearing hurry to initiate a dispute with his chief rival, Bihar chief Minister Mr. Nitish Kumar? Was he such a political novice as to be oblivious of the crucial need for NDA unity at this point of time during the Presidential poll? Inevitably Mr. Kumar responded to tear NDA unity to shreds. BJP’s Bihar leader Mr. Sushil Modi’s lame explanation that Mr. Narendra Modi was referring to the RJD and not the JD-U did not wash.
The question arises:
Is Mr. Narendra Modi so apolitical as to be unaware about the need for NDA unity at this point of time? Indeed there are several past developments related to Mr. Modi that con- tinue to puzzle. There was no compulsion for Mr. Modi to allow Mrs. Sonia Gandhi’s political secretary, and acquaintance of accused money launderer Hasan Ali, Mr. Ahmed Patel, to get elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat. The fact that Mr. Patel subsequently reciprocated by his intervention to help Mr. Modi get the central government to lift the ban on cotton export in March this year is another matter.
The Karachi Chambers of Commerce invited Mr. Modi to address them in Pakistan to expound on Gujarat’s model of economic development. This invitation could not have been extended without the blessing of the Pakistan army and the ISI. China’s Ambassador to India was feted in Gujarat where he promised substantial Chinese investment in the state. This followed Mr. Modi’s several earlier trips to China seeking investment. The Ambassador also expressed satisfaction with Gujarat schools for teaching Mandarin to their students. Beijing of course continues to violate its solemn written assurance given in 2005 that precluded China’s claims on Indian territories with settled populations as exist in Arunachal Pradesh. All this does not bother Mr. Modi.
It seems not to bother self-professed proponents of strong Hindu nationalism or cheer the self-professed proponents of secular and progressive policies. One suggests that both sides review their opinions. They should ask: whom does Mr. Modi help, and whom does he harm?
20-Jun-22012
Sir, can anyone deny the existence of caste and religion based politics in India particularly when elections are round the corner ? And if Nitish is a messiah of development and not caste why was he flustered with a remark that was aimed at his predecessor and at the shameless politicians of UP ? Everyone seems to have ignored the fact that Modi had mentioned UP also in the same breath.
The fact is that so far Nitish did not see any challenge to his position in the NDA, because Advani, Sushma, Jaitly, Gadkari are busy pulling each other down. But now he sees Modi as a challenge. So he grabs the easiest-to-use stick “secularism” to hurl at Modi. In one of my earlier comments I had mentioned that “secularism” has been shamelessly used by politicians only at the time of elections to frighten the Muslims who vote en-bloc. And do you believe the denials of many commentators about the existence of Muslim vote bank ?
Let me try a prediction. If Modi does not back down then Nitish will join hands with the Congress before 2014. Congress will not mind because it has no hope of coming to power in Bihar. What happens to BJP is difficult to say because dreams of many of its leaders have been shattered with the rise of Modi.
Krish 06/21/2012
Modi IS a politician. Even Gandhi,opposing Bose,supported Seetharmiah for APCC President.Nehru totally blacked out Patel,Bose and many others. Why is it not feasible that ISI and Pak Army supported Modi’s invitation to sow doubts about his character in his supporters’minds When Center,responsible for our borders over- look Chinese double game and invite their commerce,why not Modi?
v.haribabu 06/21/2012
– Rajinder Puri
The expression “Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion,” is used by Dr Manmohan Singh while addressing the AICC session in New Delhi. Forget Caesar’s wife; should the Prime Minister, like Caesar, remain silent when people like A Raja and Suresh Kalmadi run away with aam aadmi’s money?
His honesty and integrity have never been on the debating table or questioned. On these grounds he has been well above the watermarks of doubt; but his silence has not been so. Dr Singh place in Indian history is assured with a sure credit must go to late P V Narsimha Rao who gave him a chance to become the Finance Minister, the image as the ‘Deng (Xiaoping) of India’ the reformer who liberated India from the shackles of the command economy and unleashed the entrepreneurial forces that transformed this ancient land.
We, the people of India, know that your integrity is beyond question. In a world and time when ethics and honesty are at a premium, we rest assured that we are led by a person who, in his moral convictions, is pure as the driven snow. This is a given. Nobody needs to tell us how. Here are some occasions when Manmohan Singh could have acted in time, but never did:
It took over a year for the Prime Minister to act; it took over a year for the CBI to wake up. Had it not been for the PIL in the Supreme Court, the scam would have dragged on and on. Why did Singh not act when the then Telecom minister A Raja refused to listen? Why did the PM not act when Raja ignored Cabinet colleagues and asked them to keep off the Spectrum turf? Why did the government not bring out the facts when the issue was debated in the Rajya Sabha over a year ago? Why did the PM act only after the Supreme Court comments on the tardy progress and questioned the CBI on its monumental silence? Another point: If the PM had nothing to hide, why not agree for a JPC probe? On the point of the demand for a JPC in the 2G scam by the Opposition, PM have castigated the Opposition for disrupting a whole session of Parliament.
“One wonders what kind of politics the Opposition believes in when they do not have faith even in Parliament,” he thundered. While wasting a whole session of Parliament is ‘despicable’, surely the Joint Parliamentary Committee or the JPC is also a tool in the hands of Parliament. Demanding a JPC is surely not unparliamentary.It has been conceded before, notably in the Before and the Securities scams. Why the reticence now? It’s not only the Opposition, but even your own allies. Mamata Banerjee for instance, has let it be known that she would not be unhappy if the UPA accepts a JPC probe.
How come the Prime Minister was not aware of the fact that private conversations were being secretly taped? Such acts are allowed only for national security. Even if they were taped,who leaked it to the media and why? The conversations were taped by a government agency and the tapes were in the possession of this agency. How come the tapes were leaked and what was the motive?
The PM was visibly upset while addressing the captains of the industry this month. But that shows that he was not under control of things. Even now, he is not able to pin-point who leaked the tapes to the media and why. Now that the content of the tapes are in public domain, what action plan is prepared by you to hunt down culprits incidentally all of them are high and mighty. Sir, this is a historic opportunity for you to act tough to ensure people have faith in democratic values practiced by us.
For four long months, all the dirt on Commonwealth Games was out in the open.The stink too was there for everyone to ‘smell’ and squirm. But for the best part, the PM adopted the three wise monkey strategy with a twist in the tale: see-no-scam, hear-no-scam, tell-no- scam. Why did the PM not step in early and stem the rot? He appointed an overseeing committee only after the mess had spun out of control. Even now, Suresh Kalmadi is talking stupid; the CBI raided his establishments after full three months of uproar in the country. Sir, we are sure that 90 days are enough to put any house in order that we expect Kalmadi must have done to destroy evidences. Surely, he plans to bid for the Olympics.
The Central Vigilance Commissioner is appointed by taking into confidence the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. Three persons were shortlisted for the CVC post but the government ignored the dissenting note of Opposition leader Sushma Swaraj and appointed P J Thomas as the CVC. This despite the fact that he is an accused in the palm oil import scam in Kerala.
Sushma Swaraj had openly said that the Government was free to choose any one among the two other officers on the list of three, not Thomas. But the PM paid a deaf ear and went ahead. The government knew all along that Thomas, as the CVC, will not be in a position to investigate the 2G spectrum allotment scandal in which his own ministry was involved. An official with such a shadow of doubt should not have been made the CVC.
Now, the matter is before the Supreme Court which has questioned the manner in which Thomas got the job. Why was the PM so keen on Thomas who was under a cloud of controversy? He could have picked up the next good officer on the list.W ell, like Caesar’s wife, the PM should be above suspicion. But fact of the matter is that in all the serious corruption cases, it is Supreme Court rather than the government that is controlling the events hence leading to an impression that government has lost credibility and strength to stop the corruption and punish the guilty. The country has lost over Rs 2.5 lakh crore ( over $50b ) just because PM choose not to act in time.
Dr Singh has argued that there multiple agencies investigating the various aspects of the 2G scam and therefore a JPC is unwarranted. “We have always strives to eradicate corruption and we will continue to do so. Our approach to corruption also gets clearly reflected in our actions,” “These inquiries will be pursued vigorously And it is my promise to you that no guilty person will be spared – whether he is a political leader or a government official, whichever party he may belong to and howsoever powerful he may be.”
Really, Prime Minister? “No guilty person will be spared”? Sorry to say, Prime Minister, we the citizens are not so sanguine. How many public servants have been prosecuted in Independent India for corruption? We can’t think of any And,.it’s nothing to do with our collective memory. We are waiting for your action plan to track down the culprits that are mentioned in Radia tapes.
Therefore, if as you really say, that your “approach to cor should actually be renamed the “Prevention of Prosecution of Public Servants”. Allow me the audacity to suggest four simple amendments to give teeth and substance to the Act and make it a real deterrent for public servants from going to the devil, now that your government has not thought of it.
One: Shift onus of proof on to the public servant. If Sukh Ram or Raja or any public servant is caught with assets disproportionate to his known sources of income, make it incumbent on him or her to show that the monies or assets were earned through legitimate means. If he can’t, that should be a ground for guilt and prosecution.
Two: Ensure that there will be no stays granted or adjournments in cases involving public servants. They should be ones fast-tracked with continuous hearing. Otherwise, like the case against Sukh Ram, even after a decade and a half, the culprits will have the last laugh to the bank, or wherever they have stashed the cache.
Three: Prime Minister, mere fines aren’t enough for public servants who indulge in illegal gratification. Physical incarceration should be the minimum penalty for what amounts to looting the nation. Just these three amendments to the Prevention of Corruption Act should go a long way in instilling the fear of consequences in the public servants who are tempted to reach into the national exchequer. If you claim to be acting against corruption, I wonder why your government has not even taken the first baby steps. Unfortunately, Prime Minister, the impression we get is that you are hemmed in by the allies on the one side and the moods and whims of your party and its President on the other. To her credit, Sonia Gandhi has made it known publicly that you have her full support. We wonder why the Congress party and the allies don’t get the message!
We urge you to stand up and be counted. And believe me, Prime Minister, we get this sense that the people of India will be with you, whatever your party and your allies may say. It’s said that the only time you acted out of conviction was on the nuclear deal with the US. The grapevine has it that you even threatened to resign; if the Congress and your UPA allies don’t throw weight behind the deal in Parliament. And, Prime Minister, you know what happened. Did the heavens fall or did you get your way? Should not that be a pointer to the way you should go? And, when and if you do go that route, of playing by your convictions, and hounding out the corrupt and those who bring us shame, we have no doubt in our mind that the citizens of India, to the man, will be behind you.
Sir, this is a historic opportunity for you to act tough to ensure people have faith in democratic values practiced by us in India, you are representing aspirations of over a billion people that is one sixth of human population hence the responsibility is enormous. God has been kind to you for providing you with a platform to deliver extraordinary service to our nation please act!!
-BY PRASHANT TIWARI
The people have delivered their verdict and before the 2014 General elections, the message is loud and clear - a wake-up call for the national parties.
Several factors have contributed to the SP's kitty, anti-incumbency being just one of them. The Upper Caste or Brahmin vote which had aligned with the Bahujan Samaj Party enabling it to form a Government of its own, failed to work this time.
The 'Social Engineering' flopped though Chief Minister Mayawati rehabilitated the party's Brahmin face Satish Mishra and gave tickets to large number of Brahmins as the community felt that the development, if any, was confined to Ambedkar villages and perceived as provocative and wasteful the lavish spending on statues of Dalit icons.
Added to that was the Dalit leader's total disconnect with the masses, communication gap with the media and growing dependence on a motley crowd of bureaucrats and sycophants.
On the other hand, the Congress concentrated solely on the Muslim card and this last-minute rhetoric and aggressive wooing only proved counter-productive. The party, which till date, never took cognizance of the Sachar Committee Report or implemented the Rangnath Mishra Commission report was suddenly concerned about their plight. Statements about UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi weeping over the Batla House encounter victims, though later clarified, only served to distance the community further besides alienating the majority Hindus as well. The BJP, on its part, was a deeply divided house, seeking to cash in on the popularity of an 'imported leader' even as it ignored its own charismatic state leaders such as Varun Gandhi. The party's poster boy Narendra Modi avoided the state altogether exposing the chinks in its armour. The Kushwaha episode also did not add to its credibility.
Apart from restoring its credibility among Muslims, who had divorced Mulayam after his 'unholy' alliance with Kalyan Singh, the credit for SP's performance also goes to the emergence of Akhilesh Yadav as a leader to reckon with, one of the major highlights of this election. With his earthy wit and style, Mulayam junior was able to charm the large number of young voters, who saw in him a fresh breeze and a future leader.
Of course, the promises of unemployment and health doles, computers and other sops also contributed immensely in adding to the SP's kitty and if the party falters on these, the same voters would show it the door in the 2014 general elections.
An overestimation of Manpreet Badal's ability to divide the Akalis, inability to woo Dera Sacha Sauda voters and Captain Amarinder Singh's failure to match up to Badal senior's stature and appeal proved to be the Congress' undoing in Punjab while in Uttarakhand, incumbent B.C. Khanduri's image appears to have saved the day for BJP. Much would also depend on how BSP would play its cards in the state.
Absence of a credible opposition and the entry of Naga People's Front helped the consolidation in favour of the ruling Congress in Manipur while the massive corruption seems to have queered the pitch for the party in Goa.
Of course, the civil society activists or the anti-corruption movement launched by them also hurt the Congress across the country. Congress would certainly be on the backfoot, particularly ahead of the Rajya Sabha and Presidential elections later this year.
The BJP too would do well not to rest on laurels if it retains Uttarakhand and Punjab and wrests Goa from Congress.
The results in electorally crucial Uttar Pradesh shows it has miles to go before the Lok Sabha elections in 2014. There is no credible national leadership that guides BJP today and the state leadership are fighting to build supremacy over each other rather than going to the masses. The every decision made The results in electorally crucial Uttar Pradesh shows it has miles to go before the Lok Sabha elections in 2014. There is no credible national leadership that guides BJP today and the state leadership are fighting to build supremacy over each other rather than going to the masses. The every decision made lacks proper planning and the accountability factor is drastically missing with the party leadership. RSS is an obsolete organization trying to bring wild ideas in a old country but having young population.
As for Congress, it is time for serious introspection. Otherwise they would end up the 'India Shining' way.
The talk in the party is that Rahul's 'Mission UP 2012' collapsed due to off the cuff remarks, controversial comments and raking up of sentimental issues by senior party leaders including Union ministers.
A section of the party contends that the 4.5 per cent reservation for minorities decided by the Congress-led coalition at the Centre just a few days before the announcement of the election schedule did more harm than good for the party. This section says that detractors of the party were quick to project the move as one detrimental to interests of backward Muslims in UP.
The statements of Union Minister Salman Khurshid on the Muslim sub-quota issue added fuel to fire, while, at the same time, antagonising the Election Commission.
The statements of Union ministers Beni Prasad Verma and Sriprakash Jaiswal did not help matters. The raking up of the Batla encounter issue by Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh also appeared to have not gone down well with the Muslims. Such statements appeared to have helped the BJP to polarise the voter to a certain extent. Party leaders insist that sizable support from Muslims in the 2009 elections had ensured the Congress to win as many as 22 Lok Sabha seats giving the first signs of the revival of the organisation in its one-time bastion. But the Muslims may have shifted away this time, they feel.
Congress has been in political wilderness in UP for the past 22 years in the wake of the Mandal and Mandir upsurge.
In almost all of these 22 Lok Sabha seats, Muslim vote was crucial ranging from two to three lakh and in constituencies like Moradabad it was upto six lakh.
At that time, a sizable section of Muslims was having second thoughts in backing Mulayam Singh Yadav as the SP supremo had tied up with Kalyan Singh who was the BJP chief minister during demolition of Babri Masjid in December 1992.
The statements by some leaders of likely imposition of President's rule in UP if the Congress failed to get majority created an atmosphere of instability and sent the signal that the party was not confident to form government on its own.
Congress in UP, a section feels, failed to present a united picture in the campaign as leaders started making one-upmanship to project themselves as the chief ministerial candidates.
As against this, Yadav went methodically to correct his mistakes and win back the Muslim support that had earned him the sobriquet of Maulana Mulayam for the way he protected minorities after the demolition of Babri Masjid. Mulayam brought in his son Akhilesh Yadav as the Uttar Pradesh SP chief giving unmistakable signals that the younger Yadav will battle it out with Gandhi for the UP turf.
Inputs PTI & Courtesy K.G. Suresh is a Delhi-based senior journalist.
The people have delivered their verdict and before the 2014 General elections, the message is loud and clear – a wake up call for the national parties. Several factors have contributed to the SP’s kitty, anti-incumbency being just one of them. The Upper Caste or Brahmin vote which had aligned with the Bahujan Samaj Party enabling it to form a Government of its own, failed to work this time. The ‘Social Engineering’ flopped though Chief Minister Mayawati rehabilitated the party’s Brahmin face Satish Mishra and gave tickets to large number of Brahmins as the community felt that the development, if any, was con- fined to Ambedkar villages and perceived as provocative and wasteful the lavish spending on statues of Dalit icons. Added to that was the Dalit leader’s total disconnect with the masses, communication gap with the media and growing dependence on a motley crowd of bureaucrats and sycophants.
On the other hand, the Congress concentrated solely on the Muslim card and this last minute rhetoric and aggressive wooing only proved counter- productive. The party, which till date, never took cognizance of the Sachar Committee Report or implemented the Rangnath Mishra Commission report was suddenly concerned about their plight. Statements about UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi weeping over the Batla House encounter victims, though later clarified, only served to distance the community further besides alienating the majority Hindus as well.
The BJP, on its part, was a deeply divided house, seeking to cash in on the popularity of an ‘imported leader’ even as it ignored its own charismatic state leaders such as Varun Gandhi. The party’s poster boy Narendra Modi avoided the state altogether exposing the chinks in its armour. The Kushwaha episode also did not add to its credibility.
Apart from restoring its credibility among Muslims, who had divorced Mulayam after his ‘unholy’ alliance with Kalyan Singh, the credit for SP’s performance also goes to the emergence of Akhilesh Yadav as a leader to reckon with, one of the major highlights of this election. With his earthy wit and style, Mulayam junior was able to charm the large number of young voters, who saw in him a fresh breeze and a future leader.
Of course, the promises of unemployment and health doles, computers and other sops also contributed immensely in adding to the SP’s kitty and if the party falters on these, the same voters would show it the door in the 2014 general elections. An over estimation of Manpreet Badal’s ability to divide the Akalis, inability to woo Dera Sacha Sauda voters and Captain Amarinder Singh’s failure to match up to Badal senior’s stature and appeal proved to be the Congress’ undoing in Punjab while in Uttarakhand, incumbent B.C. Khanduri’s image appears to have saved the day for BJP. Much would also depend on how BSP would play its cards in the state. Absence of a credible opposition and the entry of Naga People’s Front helped the consolidation in favor of the ruling Congress in Manipur while the massive corruption seems to have queered the pitch for the party in Goa.
Of course, the civil society activists or the anti-corruption movement launched by them also hurt the Congress across the country. Congress would certainly be on the back foot, particularly ahead of the Rajya Sabha and Presidential elections later this year. The BJP too would do well not to rest on laurels if it retains Uttarakhand and Punjab and wrests Goa from Congress. The results in electorally crucial Uttar Pradesh shows it has miles to go before the Lok Sabha elections in 2014. There is no credible national leadership that guides BJP today and the state leader- ship are fighting to build supremacy over each other rather than going to the masses. The every decision made lacks proper planning and the account- ability factor is drastically missing with the party leadership. RSS is an obsolete organization trying to bring wild ideas in a old country but having young population.
As for Congress, it is time for serious introspection. Otherwise they would end up the ‘India Shining’ way. The talk in the party is that Rahul’s ‘Mission UP 2012’ collapsed due to off the cuff remarks, controversial comments and raking up of sentimental issues by senior party leaders including Union ministers.
A section of the party contends that the 4.5 per cent reservation for minorities decided by the Congress-led coalition at the Center just a few days before the announcement of the election schedule did more harm than good for the party. This section says that detractors of the party were quick to project the move as one detrimental to interests of backward Muslims in UP. The statements of Union Minister Salman Khurshid on the Muslim sub- quota issue added fuel to fire, while, at the same time, antagonizing the Election Commission.
The statements of Union ministers Beni Prasad Verma and Sriprakash Jaiswal did not help matters. The raking up of the Batla encounter issue by Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh also appeared to have not gone down well with the Muslims. Such statements appeared to have helped the BJP to polarize the voter to a certain extent. Party leaders insist that sizable sup-port from Muslims in the 2009 elections had ensured the Congress to win as many as 22 Lok Sabha seats giving the first signs of the revival of the organization in its one-time bastion. But the Muslims may have shifted away this time, they feel.
Congress has been in political wilderness in UP for the past 22 years in the wake of the Mandal and Mandir upsurge. In almost all of these 22 Lok Sabha seats, Muslim vote was crucial ranging from two to three lakh and in con- stituencies like Moradabad it was upto six lakh. At that time, a sizable section of Muslims was having second thoughts in backing Mulayam Singh Yadav as the SP supremo had tied up with Kalyan Singh who was the BJP chief minister during demolition of Babri Masjid in December 1992. The statements by some leaders of likely imposition of President’s rule in UP if the Congress failed to get majority created an atmosphere of instability and sent the signal that the party was not confident to form government on its own. Congress in UP, a section feels, failed to present a united picture in the campaign as leaders started making one upmanship to project themselves as the chief ministerial candidates.
As against this, Yadav went methodically to correct his mistakes and win back the Muslim support that had earned him the sobriquet of Maulana Mulayam for the way he protected minorities after the demolition of Babri Masjid.Mulayam brought in his son Akhilesh Yadav as the Uttar Pradesh SP chief giving unmistakable signals that the younger Yadav will battle it out with Gandhi for the UP turf.
Inputs PTI & Courtesy K.G. Suresh is a Delhi-bbased senior journalist .
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